couldnât even hate Gemma. There were no feelings left inside her anymore. âI did you a favour, Mimi.â Gemmaâs voice was quivering and her body shaking uncontrollably. âIf youâd seen what I saw in that repulsive garden, youâd have done exactly the same thing. Iâll have nightmares for the rest of my life.â
From her bed, Mimi could see the cold empty space where the Empress Cassia Pastels used to lie. Thoughts tumbled over and over in her mind like waves crashing on the shore. She tossed and turned on her pillow.
Theyâre probably floating in the sea by now,
she thought.
Whoâll find them next? I hope itâs someone good.
Mimiâs only comfort was little Peppy, snuggled into the doona beside her, belly up, snoring loudly.
And the garden. I wonât ever see it again, either.
The sweet scent of the cassia flower came into the room and a hush silenced her thoughts. Mimi heard the swish of silk but didnât lift her head from the pillow. A new idea was forming. A shiny, clear thread of a thought:
The garden . . . it
is
still here . . . it might have gone back to the space between Heaven and Earth but itâs growing inside all those people. Miss Sternhop, Mr Honeybun, Mrs Jacobs, Mr Hol . . . I mean Ed, and all the others it healed. And if itâs in them, it must be in me as well.
This thought comforted her.
Peppy twitched and whimpered. âItâs all right, Peps.â Mimi gently stroked him.
So many people have changed because of the pastels and the garden. Gemma wonât be giving me a hard time anymore, Iâm sure of that. Nightmares for the rest of her life â thatâs punishment enough.
It took Uncle Tingâs death to make Dad change. Thatâs pretty drastic. I guess instead of the Garden, itâs Uncle Ting inside him now. Hi, Uncle Ting. Youâd be glad to know Dadâs lightened up a lot lately. No more pressure about school work. I couldnât believe it when he said heâd take me to a movie . . . Thatâs a first. Heâs happy now too because I speak Chinese with him. Never realised before but it comes in handy when you donât want other people to know what youâre talking about. And Mumâs happy, because we both are. Thatâs Mum . . . keeper of the peace.
And Josh? Well . . . heâs just cute and nice and sweet and a really, really, really good friend. Best friend Iâve ever had. Only friend Iâve ever had except for Miss OâDell and Peppy.
Mimiâs mind was like a covering of freshly fallen snow â all grey thoughts had disappeared. She relaxed into her bed, ready for sleep to come. Then, as a petal of a cassia flower brushed her face, a young girl, with rosebud lips and wearing a gown of the finest yellow silk, walked into Mimiâs sweet dreaming.
âEmpress Cassia ââ she whispered.
âIt is here, it is there, all at the one time, Mimi.â The voice was like a bellbird in a quiet mountain forest. âCan you not see it?â She gracefully flicked back her long sleeve embroidered with birds and blossoms, then waved her arm as if she was standing in the middle of the garden itself.
Mimi pushed back her doona and sat up in bed. She looked to where Empress Cassia was pointing, but saw only the blank wall of her bedroom.
Empress Cassia bent down and put her face close to Mimiâs. The scent of the sweet flower grew stronger. âReach down deep inside yourself,â she said. âLet it come . . . come slowly to the surface. The garden is there but you must help it to grow. When you hear your heart sing â the garden will appear.â
Mimi closed her eyes.
âI can . . . I can feel it,â Mimi whispered, as the garden welled up inside her. The Dragon Wall, the Lake of Secret Dreams, the mountains and temples and finally the Pavilion of the